European Shares Fluctuate As Business Activity Contracts For Fifth Month

(RTTNews) - European stocks struggled for direction on Wednesday, as investors awaited the release of minutes of the most recent decisions of the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank for directional cues.

Business activity fell across the eurozone for the fifth consecutive month in November, adding to fears of a recession.

The eurozone composite PMI rose to 47.8 in November from 47.3 in October, putting the eurozone economy on course for its steepest quarterly contraction since late-2012, according to a preliminary reading released by S&P Global.

The pan European STOXX 600 was up 0.2 percent at 437.05, after hitting its strongest level since late-August in the previous session.

The German DAX was marginally lower, while France's CAC 40 index edged up 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added half a percent.

Miners Anglo American and Antofagasta both rose over 1 percent on the back of a weaker dollar.

Glencore jumped 4.5 percent after it entered into a binding amendment agreement with Metals Acquisition Corp for the sale and purchase of Glencore's Cobar copper mine in New South Wales, Australia.

Oil & gas firm BP Plc climbed 1.7 percent and Shell added 1.3 percent.

Britvic, a producer of soft drinks, rallied 3.3 percent after posting a rise in full-year profit and revenue.

Chemicals maker Johnson Matthey tumbled 3.7 percent after reporting a slightly lower half-yearly profit.

Credit Suisse Group AG plunged almost 5 percent. The embattled Swiss lender said it would book a loss of up to 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.6bn) for the fourth quarter.

Prosus N.V., a Dutch technology investment group, lost about 4 percent after reporting an 82 percent drop in earnings per share for the half year ended Sept. 30.